Cavalry Storage CAND3001T0 1TB Network Drive Review

Introduction:

Our lives are increasingly becoming centered around multimedia applications from digital photographs to music and video files. Along with the move to a more media-centric lifestyle comes the need for both more storage space as well as a way to keep your digital treasures safe. With the price of storage falling, it may be tempting to just throw a few more hard drives at the problem and call it a day.

While adding hard drives to your system may seem like the way to go, especially for someone who is used to working inside a computer, there is a more elegant solution. Adding storage to your home network is a way to increase the available storage, provide a way to back up your data, and make your files available across the network, as well as from the Internet. Network attached storage (NAS) devices are a way to do all the above, but not all NAS units come with hard drives, requiring you to add your own. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, for those who aren't comfortable with the idea or just want the convenience of a ready-made device, there are units that come with drives pre-installed.

The CAND3001T0 from Cavalry Storage is one such example. Cavalry Storage is headquartered in Southern California and has been in the business of making external storage devices since 1985. The CAND series of network attached storage units are offered in two- and four-bay configurations. Today we're looking at one of its two-bay units, the CAND3001T0, which comes equipped with two 500GB drives for a total of 1TB of storage. Cavalry offers 1.5TB and 2TB models as well. So let's take a look and see what this device has to offer.

Closer Look:

As is typical of a lot of the products that show up for review, the CAND3001T0 arrived in a sturdy cardboard shipping box. The device itself comes in its own box designed to safely house the unit, as well as provide some additional information about the CAND3001T0. On the front of the box we're treated to a picture of the unit, along with a network diagram showing how a typical installation might work. Cleverly, the back side of the box shows the rear of the unit, along with additional highlights of the unit's capabilities. The sides of the box repeat the feature list and also include some detailed technical specifications, along with what's included in the box.

Taking a peek inside the box shows the CAND3001T0 is covered in foam wrapping and securely protected by a pair of foam inserts. Also included in the box are a power cord, the external power supply, a Cat-5e Ethernet cable, a printed user's manual, and a setup CD. Included on the CD are a setup utility, electronic versions of the user manual, and a copy of the backup software.

Let's pull the wraps off and see what the CAND3001T0 looks like. The unit itself is fairly compact at 4.25” wide, but at 8” deep, it is somewhat deeper than I expected. The front of the storage unit is uncluttered and only has three function LEDs for power (blue), network link (green) and hard drive activity (red). An oblique side shot shows the black matte finish of the all-plastic enclosure framed in silver accents with the Cavalry logo on the side. Moving around to the rear of the unit there is a 60mm cooling fan at the top (although the fan grill is more like 45mm). Continuing down the left side, there is a reset button, a RJ45 LAN connection, a USB 2.0 printer connection and the power connection. On the right side is a momentary-contact rocker switch controlling power to the unit. The unit also has four rubber feet on the bottom to reduce vibration noise and to keep the unit from sliding around. On the upper right side is a foil seal covering the access screw that reads “TAMPER SEAL Nonreturnable if seal is broken”. I guess that means there are no user-serviceable components inside.